1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a power generation system, and in particular, to a thermo-magnetic power generation system.
2. Description of the Related Art
A thermo-magnetic power generator is considered a highly efficient and environmentally friendly generating technology. Thermo-magnetic power technologies adapt a magnetocaloric effect (MCE) of magnetocaloric materials (MCM) to generate an intermittent magnetic field.
In general, a magnetocaloric material has a Curie temperature (Tc). When the magnetocaloric material is heated and thus its temperature is raised above the Curie temperature, the magnetocaloric material generates a magnetic field. On the other hand, when the magnetocaloric material is cooled and thus its temperature is lowered beneath the Curie temperature, the magnetocaloric material generates a weak magnetic field or does not generate any magnetic field. Thus, by changing the temperature of the magnetocaloric material, the magnetocaloric material generates an intermittent magnetic field variation. Further, when the magnetocaloric material is rotatably disposed on a permanent magnet, a torque can be generated due to the intermittent magnetic field variation, and the torque could be utilized to generate power.
For a conventional thermo-magnetic power generator, a magnetocaloric material is heated by hot water. However, after the hot water flows through the magnetocaloric material, the hot water will be wasted and will not be utilized by the thermo-magnetic power generator again. Thus, the total energy conversion efficiency of the conventional thermo-magnetic power generator is low. Moreover, since the magnetocaloric material is slowly cooled by the environmental media with a small temperature difference, the frequency of magnetocaloric material passing through the thermo-magnetic power generator is limited, and the power generated by the thermo-magnetic power generator is low accordingly.